On this day in 1931, a new Congress convened that reflected the results of the 1930 midterm elections. Although the Democrats had succeeded, gaining 52 House seats, the Republicans managed to hold on to the narrowest of majorities. The reconstituted chamber was composed of 218 Republicans, 216 Democrats and Rep. Paul John Kvale, a member of the Farmer-Labor Party who could be counted upon to organize with the Democrats.

Moreover, the House was deeply polarized. Nearly all the seats in the far West, the upper Midwest and New England were in GOP hands. The South was solidly Democratic. The Democrats scored their biggest gains in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky.

The midterm elections gave voters a chance to respond to the impact of the Great Depression, then gathering force, and their displeasure with the economic policies of President Herbert Hoover.

Thirteen months later, when the 72nd Congress finally got down to business, the political scene had shifted more. In the intervening months, 14 members-elect had died. The Democrats picked up enough seats in the ensuing special elections to allow them to organize the House with the 219 to 212 majority. The dean of the House, Rep. Edward Pou (D-N.C.), swore in the newly elected speaker, Rep. John Nance Garner (D-Texas).

The prior speaker, Rep. Nicholas Longworth (R-Ohio) died on April 9, 1931. He led the group of late members who were mourned. James Shera Montgomery, the House chaplain, eulogized Longworth in the opening prayer. Motioning toward a portrait of Longworth at the foot of the rostrum, Montgomery said, “Before us is an image of our most notable one. A sad and mournful yesterday dictates our sorrow. Through the years, he camped with us in the embrace of a sweet and beautiful fraternity.”